Basel plastic regulations cause ‘fight for feedstock’

Posted on January 13, 2021

by Colin Staub

Scrap plastic traders are facing challenges from increased freight rates and cancellations of bookings by shipping lines as Basel regulations are implemented. | Mariusz Bugno/Shutterstock

Industry experts say overseas buyers are struggling to source scrap plastic after new restrictions on the global trade of recovered plastic began taking effect.

The Basel Convention this month began regulating the global trade of a handful of types of scrap plastic, including a great deal of post-consumer household plastics collected from U.S. municipal recycling programs.

Formally titled the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, the global pact governs how shipments of certain types of hazardous waste are regulated between nations. It was amended in 2019 to include a variety of plastics under its purview, a move that has significant implications for scrap plastic traders around the world. Its potential implications for the U.S. are particularly notable, because the U.S. is a major exporter of scrap plastic but has not ratified the Basel Convention.

The new restrictions officially took effect on Jan. 1, although some Basel-party countries began implementing them before that date and some are still finalizing their domestic lawmaking.